Tennis teams struggle with weather in weekend matches


By Matthew Bassin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, March 7, 2005

The No. 47 Arizona women's tennis team had a rough weekend.

Having to face No. 15 California, No. 1 Stanford and dealing with heavy rain was just too much for the Wildcats.

Arizona (5-5) was scheduled to face the Golden Bears on Saturday until rain stepped in, soaking a solid start.

Arizona's reliable doubles team of seniors Maja Mlakar and Dianne Hollands got the Wildcats off to a great start, defeating Cal's Suzi Babos and Marion Ravelojaona, 8-6.

Senior Kelly Perry moved from the No. 2 doubles spot to No. 3, pairing with her partner from last season, sophomore Jessie Rochefort.

The two defeated Cal's Tiffany Lee and Cristina Visico 8-3, giving the Wildcats the first point of the match.

Then the rain started to fall, delaying the match for two hours. The referees postponed play until Sunday.

With all the momentum swinging the Wildcats' way, poor weather doused it away.

On court one, Mlakar, who suffered from a slightly injured hamstring and the flu, lost to No. 7 Babos, 6-1, 6-1.

On court two, Mlakar's counterpart, Hollands, stepped up for her teammates, demolishing Cal's Monica Wiesener 6-0, 6-0.

Hollands's victory was the last for the Wildcats, as junior Stephanie Balzert lost to Cal's Stephanie Kusano 1-6, 2-6, and Kasia Jakowlew fell to Cal's Jessica Shu, 2-6, 4-6.

The final game of the match was called due to rain and Cal defeated Arizona 4-2.

"We're disappointed with the outcome of the match," said assistant coach Brian Ramirez. "We're seeing some improvement in doubles, but not everyone is on point in singles play. We have to address that."

On Friday, Arizona lost to defending national champion Stanford 6-1.

Mlakar and Hollands, who haven't lost since the fall, defeated the No. 10 doubles team of Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette, 8-4.

Rochefort and Perry helped Arizona do something only one other team has done all year: Defeat Stanford for the double's point.

The pair defeated the Cardinal's Whitney Deason and Lejla Hodzic, 8-5.

"For us to win the double's point says a lot," Ramirez said. "These girls (Stanford) are the best our girls have seen all year by far, and we didn't back down. Every girl on Stanford is very, very good."

In single's play, Mlakar didn't play because she was too worn down from the flu, so Hollands played on court one.

Hollands fought hard against two-time defending national champion No. 28 Amber Liu, but ultimately lost 6-3, 3-6, 7-10.

On court two, Balzert lost to No. 22 Barnes, 1-6, 2-6.

Perry had the daunting task of facing No. 14 Burdette.

She gave Burdette all she could handle before losing the match, 6-7 (1-7), 3-6.

"Our seniors are great," Ramirez said. "You know what you're going to get out of Maja, Di and Kelly. They always leave it all on the court."

Maes said she is proud of her seniors, but the other players need to start stepping up.

"They all have to stop counting on other people," she said. "Some aren't taking care of what they are supposed to, and if they don't start, we're going to continue losing close matches, 5-2, 4-3."

Arizona plays against No. 27 ASU (3-1) Wednesday at 1 p.m. at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

Men's tennis catches flu bug, bad weather

The No. 29 Arizona men's tennis team had a long trip back to Tucson this weekend.

The Wildcats (6-4) fell to No. 53 San Diego (2-3), 5-2 Thursday.

"It was one of those days," said senior Paul Warkentin. "Everything just seemed to go wrong."

Along with bad weather, four of Arizona's six starting players were sick during the match.

"Maybe we should've rested some of the guys," said assistant coach Tad Berkowitz.

The match started off well, as Arizona's No. 22 doubles team of senior Colin O'Grady and junior Roger Matalonga defeated San Diego's Nick Beuque and Mirza Koristovic, 8-1.

The Toreros answered by winning the other two matches to win the doubles point.

Arizona junior Daniel Andrus and freshman Bruno Alcala were defeated by San Diego's Pierrick Ysern and Oscar Plotnik, 3-8.

Junior Tim Mullane and freshman Claudio Christen were defeated by the Toreros' Robbie Blair and Thomas Liversage, 3-8.

In singles play, Andrus and Alcala gave the Wildcats their only two points of the match.

Andrus defeated Koristovic 6-3, 6-4, while Alcala, also sick, defeated Blair by the same score.

O'Grady, playing on court one, was defeated by No. 8 Ysern 2-6, 6-7.

Matalonga, was defeated by Beuque 6-4, 5-7, 7-10 in a super tiebreaker.

"We had a long talk after the loss," Warkentin said. "We're ready for Memphis, and for the California schools coming this weekend."

Arizona faces No. 73 Memphis tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at Robson Tennis Center.